Irish Meadows Read Online Free PDF

anyway.”
    Gil repressed an urge to smooth the furrow from her brow. Instead he plucked a blade of grass and shredded it. “What do you want to do?”
    Her expression changed immediately, excitement brightening her features. “I want to go to New York and study, just like you. I’ve been reading up on Barnard Hall, the woman’s college associated with Columbia. It sounds wonderful.”
    Gil smiled, but the lemonade soured in his stomach. She wanted to leave just when he’d returned. Yet perhaps that wasfor the best. With Brianna away, he wouldn’t have to fight the daily temptation to be near her. He could do his job, and when the time came, leave without regret.
    She sighed. “Unfortunately, Daddy thinks education is a waste of time and money for a girl. In his mind, the only thing a woman needs to do is get married and start a family.”
    He leaned back on one elbow. “You should follow your heart, Bree. Don’t marry someone just to please your father. No matter how much you crave his approval.”
    Her chin dipped. “I wish I didn’t care what he thinks.”
    Gil almost laughed out loud. Caring about James O’Leary’s opinion appeared to be the fate of everyone living at Irish Meadows—Gil included.
    She studied him a moment as though about to say something important. Instead she looked away and brushed some crumbs from her skirt. “Enough about my problems. What are your plans now that you’re back?”
    For a moment, he considered confiding in her about Aurora Hastings, but then thought better of it. He needed to make that decision on his own. “I guess I’ll be taking over the bookkeeping for your father. At least for a while. I still hope to work with the horses like before I left.”
    â€œOf course you do. You’d be miserable cooped up at a desk all the time.”
    Her vehemence surprised him, as did her immediate understanding of his disdain for office work. The only reason he’d agreed to study business was to obtain a solid foundation for his future horse-breeding venture. From what he’d learned here, it took more than an innate connection with horses to make a business thrive.
    â€œYou don’t plan on staying here forever, though, do you?” Bree glanced through her golden lashes at him. He couldn’t quite decipher what he saw there. Hope, fear, longing?
    He shook his head. “No. I still want to buy my own property,start my own farm. Maybe somewhere upstate. Far enough away that I won’t be competing with your father.”
    For a few moments, she remained quiet, looking out over the pond. Only the soft ripples of the water broke the stillness. At last she turned to him, her eyes sad, her voice a whisper. “Mama won’t be happy about you moving so far away.”
    His heart thudded heavily in his chest. “And how will you feel, Bree?”
    She lowered her gaze to the blanket, a blush spreading over her cheeks. When she didn’t answer, a tense silence hummed between them.
    At last, she lifted her head to stare out over the water again, her lips twitching. “Remember the summer you stepped on that nest of yellow jackets? I never saw anyone run so fast in my life. You plunged into the water like a pack of wolves was after you.” Her light laugh floated on the air.
    He chuckled. “Took days for the swelling of those stings to go away. Lucky for me I had a pretty nurse to tend my wounds.”
    She screwed up her nose. “I was not pretty. Homely and awkward more like.”
    Annoyance made him straighten on the blanket. He reached out to cover her fingers with his. “You were never homely, Bree. Not to me. And now you’ve turned into a beautiful woman.”
    Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. The sunlight danced over her hair, glinting the red highlights to gold. The yellow flecks in her eyes mesmerized him, and the desire to kiss her burned as